CONCEPT SKETCHING IN FIELD NOTEBOOKS AS A PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH TO ENHANCING OBSERVATION, SCIENTIFIC, AND DRAWING SKILLS FOR UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE STUDENTS: EXAMPLES FROM THE PRISTINE VIRGINIA BARRIER ISLANDS

This poster highlights the methods and results of concept sketches created on pristine barrier islands by freshman students enrolled in a First Year Experience Course (FYEC) titled, A Picture is Worth a Thousand Hypotheses: Conservation of Beaches through Art and Science. This project-based, interdisciplinary course combines the artistic and geologic scientific expertise of two faculty members and is taught in an interleaved manner to facilitate the overarching objectives of this course. One such objective requires students to create a “coffee-table” book dedicated to educating the general public about coastal dynamics through art and short text descriptions. This book will display their artwork to communicate the results of their year-long, original scientific research (using experimental design protocol) on natural coastal systems. In short, we aimed for students to use the power of observation to inform both their art (through pencil sketching in field notebooks) and their research (hypothesis development). To this end, students have used concept sketches as a tool for enhancing their ability to: (1) observe natural phenomena, (2) interpret process-response phenomena, and (3) draw. Concept sketches provide sketches or diagrams concisely annotated with short statements that describe the processes, concepts, and interrelationships shown in the sketch. As such, concept sketches integrate art and text to produce a coherent understanding of geologic concepts and processes. This poster presents examples of concept sketches from the field notebooks of college-level freshman as they walked – and studied – natural processes occurring along pristine coastal environments.